posted July 8th

We recently came to the end of our 2-month visit to the Bahamas & flew from Nassau to Providenciales in the Turks & Caicos islands…..in case you’re not familiar where they are, the little island group is right at the southern end of the Bahamas group & is close to Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba!

Here are some interesting facts about the islands:

*The total population is 44,000

*They’re a British territory but the currency is US dollars

*There are over 40 islands in the group & over 230 miles of beach

*Columbus is supposed to have landed on the island of Grand Turk as his first stop in the New World. However this claim is disputed by San Salvador island in the Bahamas!

*Horatio Nelson was once stationed on Grand Turk & suffered one of his very few defeats while defending the island against the French!

*In the last 300 years, the islands have been under the control of the French, the Spanish & now the British. 3 times the local government nearly decided to become part of Canada—in 1917, 1974 & 2004!

*Numerous rich & famous people own property here including Bruce Willis, Oprah Winfrey & Keith Richards

*The Turks & Caicos islands are named after the Turk cactus:

Here’s our first school program in the islands: Clement Howell High School: